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Hey, all you 5-year-olds, pass the word: You don't HAVE to go to school.Although 97 percent of Utah's 5-year-olds attend kindergarten, there is no law mandating the program. Sen. Scott Howell, D-Salt Lake, would like to change that.
Howell is the sponsor of SB150, which would give Utah's practice the substance of law. The matter has become an issue because of the Legislature's effort to reduce class sizes. Last year, almost $5 million was targeted to first-grade classes, and a like amount is being suggested this year to make second-grade classes smaller. Because they are not mandatory, kindergartens are "out of the loop" when class-size trims are considered, he said.
In addition, when money gets tight, some school districts tend to see the optional beginners class as a likely spot to cut financial corners."Kindergarten is the grade that's most important - next to Head Start - especially for children from underprivileged homes," Howell told the Senate Education Committee, which passed the bill out favorably.
During the committee hearing, Howell had an impressive ally: his kindergarten son, Jason. With a bit of visual cueing from his dad, the youngster endorsed kindergarten as a wonderful place to learn the ABCs and 1-2-3s of school.
"Kindergarten really is the first grade of school now," said John Funk, one of the state's rare male kindergarten teachers. He has 56 children in two classes at Fox Hills Elementary.
Because classes are optional, many parents feel free to keep their children home on a whim, he said, with some youngsters missing 50 to 60 days during the school year. Those children are likely to arrive at first grade behind their peers in the battle for a good start in school.
Three hours with 25 to 30 5-year-olds is enough to leave a teacher exhausted, he said. But in the guise of play and activity, the children really are creating a foundation on which they can build their entire school career.
Connie Sorensen, Oakwood Elementary teacher who deals with 27 rambunctious kindergartners at a time, agreed that kindergarten has "evolved into what first grade used to be." Children are involved in pre-reading and pre-mathematics activities as well as learning the social skills required of students. The ratios of adults to children legally required in child-care centers are much better than those in schools, she said.
Kindergartners come to school enthusiastic and eager to learn, said Kathryn Howell, the senator's mother, a longtime educator. Besides setting a trend for their academic trip through school, they "learn rules, social skills, order, structure, responsibility - everything that's important for the rest of their lives."
Gayle Ruzich, a spokeswoman for the Utah Eagle Forum, expressed a downside to mandatory kindergarten. Some children are not developmentally ready for school, she said. "They shouldn't have to be pressured to be in school before they are ready - especially boys."
Howell said he anticipates an amendment to SB150 that would allow parents, in cooperation with a teacher and principal, to delay a child's entry into school if they conclude it is premature for that child.
"Teachers don't want children who are not ready," he said.
A $700,000 fiscal note on the bill could be troublesome as it faces closer legislative scrutiny, but Howell said he believes the amount is overestimated. Although his bill could conceivably increase the state kindergarten load by 3 percent, he believes the actual figure would be closer to half that number. Many parents still will opt for private school or home school, he said. His own estimate of the costs for mandated kindergarten is approximately $200,000.